Green Card Lottery

Once again the US Department of State administers the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program for 2010, the also called Diversity Lottery Program 2010 or even shorter DV-2010 as stated in this release:

U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery

More than 50,000 Green Cards are available. Instructions, available in many languages besides English, can be downloaded by eligible candidates here:

Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery Instructions

The application form is available in English only here:

U.S. Green Card Lottery Application

Please note, that there is no fee charged to enter the lottery. Furthermore, you would not necessarily need any help to submit your application electronically, which is the only way allowed. However, privately owned websites might offer services, claiming you would have better chances with the lottery, which is simply not true. Some of these websites might offer services beyond that, which you might as well find elsewhere for a better price or don't need at all. Please read the official statement of the US State Department:

"Important Notice No fee is charged for the electronic lottery entry in the annual DV program. The U.S. Government employs no outside consultants or private services to operate the DV program. Any intermediaries or others who offer assistance to prepare DV entries do so without the authority or consent of the U.S. Government. Use of any outside intermediary or assistance to prepare a DV entry is entirely at the entrant’s discretion. A qualified electronic entry submitted directly by an applicant has an equal chance of being selected by the computer at the Kentucky Consular Center as does an electronic entry received during the lottery registration period will have an equal random chance of being selected within its region. However, receipt of more than one entry per person will disqualify the person from registration, regardless of the source of the entry."

Here are the official statements by the US Department of State addressing website fraud:

Website Fraud Warning

Department of State Warns of Impostor or Fraudulent Websites

The Department of State, Visa Services advises the public that only internet sites including the ".gov" indicator are official government Websites, for our agency offices located in the United States. We are proud to have more than 200 Embassies worldwide. While many of these Embassy Consular Section Websites have the ".gov" indicator in their internet address, a number do not. The Department of State, Visa Services website does link directly to all Embassy Consular Section Websites abroad at U.S. Embassies and Consulates . This is a useful way for the public to access Consular Section Websites. Visa applicants are advised to be cautious in all dealings with companies that claim to offer any assistance in obtaining U.S. visas. Please note the following:

Immigration Related Websites. Many other non-governmental Websites (e.g., using the suffixes ".com," ".org" or ".net") provide legitimate and useful immigration and visa related information and services. Regardless of the content of other Websites, the Department of State does not endorse, recommend or sponsor any information or material shown at these other Websites.
Other Impostor or Fraudulent Websites and Email. A few other Websites may try to mislead customers and members of the public into thinking they are official Websites. These Websites may attempt to require you to pay for services such as forms and information about immigration procedures, which are otherwise free on the Department of State Visa Services Website, or overseas through the Embassy Consular Section Websites. Additionally, these other Websites may require you to pay for services you will not receive. These web sites may contact you by email to lure you to their offer. Additionally, be wary of sending any personal information that might be used for identity fraud/theft to these websites.
A Few Words about the Diversity Visa Program. There have been instances of fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Government sites. Some companies posing as the U.S. Government have sought money in order to "complete" lottery entry forms. To learn more, please see the Federal Trade Commission Warning . Applicants selected in the Diversity Visa random drawing are notified by the Department of State, Kentucky Consular Center by letter, NOT email and are provided instructions on how to proceed to the next step in the process. No other organization or company is authorized by the Department of State to notify Diversity Visa lottery applicants of their winning entry.

How Do I Report Internet Fraud or Unsolicited Email? If you wish to file a complaint about Internet fraud, please see the econsumer.gov Website, hosted by the Federal Trade Commission, which is a joint effort of consumer protection agencies from 17 nations at http://www.econsumer.gov/english/ or go to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). To file a complaint about unsolicited email, contact Department of Justice contact us page.

From http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1749.htm